Paraguay

PARAGUAY Freedom of the press exists in Paraguay, and the Paraguayan government respects journalism, but certain events have cast a shadow over the work of journalists. The most serious event was the April 26 murder of journalist Santiago Leguizam6n, director of Radio Mburucuya and correspondent for the newspaper Noticias de Asunción, in Pedro Juan Caballero. Three assailants, who were not by identified by the authorities, stopped the automobile in which Leguizam6n was traveling and killed him, pumping 22 bullets into his body. The incident appeared to be in retaltion for a series of written articles and radio commentaries in which Leguizarn6n denounced the impunity with which organized crime - smuggling and drug trafficking - operated in Pedro Juan Caballero. On September 24, ABC Color and Radio Ysapy journalist Victor Benitez was sentenced by criminal judge Nelson Mora Rodas to four months in jail and a fine on charges of defamation and calumny against businessman Juan Carlos Wasmosy. The judge handed down his sentence after the trial of Benitez which began April 16,1990, based upon a criminal complaint filed by Wasmosy because of commentaries he considered defamatory broadcast on March 14,1990, on Benitez' radio program "Transición" on Radio Nanduti. Wasmosy, an engineer and bUSinessman, is a member of the Council of State, an advisory body to the executive branch when congress is adjourned. Benitez, the first journalist to be sentenced in court for this type of crime, was later pardoned by the complainant. As a result, the judge suspended the four-month jail sentence, a procedure permitted under Paraguayan law. The entire file of journalist Victor Benitez' case was given to the Board of Directors of the IAPA. Nationai Deputy Julio Cesar Vasconsellos of the official Colorado Party introduced a bill in the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress to establish a press statute. The bill, which consists of 3S articles, was presented August 14, after some statements about press activities by the commander of the first cavalry division, Brigadier General Lino Oviedo, in a meeting to which the press was not admitted. The meeting was held with military officers and business leaders August 7. Despite restrictions imposed on the press, journalists who were in the next room managed to record part of Oviedo's remarks. In reference to the press, he declared that "the only ones who have gained anything from this democracy are the press; they are the ones who are receiving the benefits of the results of this democracy." He added, "We have to impose the rules of the game. We have the basis for this: intelligence, capacity, and will." A criminal complaint for defamation against the editor and journalists of the newspaper ABC Color was brought before a criminal court September 17 by businessman Carlos Barreto Sarubbi. In a series of 124 articles, entitled "Corruption is the Daily Bread in EI Este," references were made in 20 of the articles to the activities of the complainant in Ciudad del Este (formerly Ciudad Presidente Stroessner). In April and May, the ABC Color correspondent in that city and two employees of the newspaper Noticias were physically attacked.